The term load carriers below can refer to both laden load carriers and empty load carriers.
Conveyor installations frequently have a plurality of operating zones which are linked to one another in conveying terms and in which material to be conveyed and the conveying paths thereof are managed with different objectives.
The operating zones can be work stations in which the material to be conveyed is treated or processed. In particular, however, operating zones can be different logistics zones of a logistics system in which material to be conveyed is picked.
A first logistics zone is then, for example, an inbound delivery zone in which material to be conveyed is delivered. The material to be conveyed is located here on load carriers, such as are known for example in the form of pallets. Euro pallets have become particularly well-established as load carriers.
The material to be conveyed is then conveyed on the load carrier to further logistics zones, such as a storage zone or an order picking zone or the like, and from there to an outbound delivery zone. Between inbound delivery zone and outbound delivery zone, the material to be conveyed can cross only a single logistics zone of this type, although it can also pass through a plurality of different logistics zones. For example, material to be conveyed can be moved directly from the inbound delivery zone to an order picking zone and from there to an outbound delivery zone. However, the material to be conveyed can also firstly be conveyed to a storage zone, be stored temporarily there and then arrive at the outbound delivery zone via the order picking zone at a later time.
Conveyor systems, which differ in conveying terms and which operate in some cases manually and in some cases automatically, can be established in all logistics zones present depending on the operating concept of the particular zone. The term manual conveyor system is used here to refer to all conveyor systems in which an operator carries out the essential conveying steps. For example, a motor-driven but human-controlled forklift therefore also counts as a manual conveyor system.
In the inbound delivery zone mentioned, the forklift system is for example a first conveyor system. Overhead track systems can be effective, for example, as a second conveyor system in a storage zone, whilst a floor-guided conveyor system is preferably used as a further conveyor system in an order picking zone in which order pickers have to access conveyed objects. It is also possible for different conveyor systems to be present within individual logistics zones.
Between two conveyor systems which differ in conveying terms, there is always a handover station in which the load carriers are then transferred with the material to be conveyed from one conveyor system to another conveyor system. To this end, either stationary automatic transfer systems are present in a handover station of this type, or the material to be conveyed is transferred manually by personnel on site, for which the corresponding equipment and personnel have to be available in the handover station. Even the case where only one logistics zone, for example an order picking zone, is passed through between the inbound delivery zone and the outbound delivery zone, two handover stations are required. All in all, this results in a relatively high expenditure on materials and possibly personnel.